Life Through The Lens Of A Silly, Stubborn Heart.

Author: Lael-Heart

I’m somewhat Witchy these days and a lot of my traditions really stem from my heathen/pagan/nature worshippin’ ways. The older I get, the more “me” I become, which is most interesting because sometimes I look at myself and think – Who ARE you anyway?- Its most fun to become one’s truest self.

My Yule starts with the Solstice, which takes place in the northern hemisphere on December 21, 2018 at ohhh….3:23 PM. My first order of business:

Wake and thank Chaos and Order for bringing back the light.

Watch the sun rise, from beginning to end.

Light ALL my candles and do a happy dance at 3:23 PM. I always feel so grateful for the slow and steady return of longer days. I am a fair weather person with a wonky brain, the returning light means I’ll suffer less and enjoy more.

Enjoy a special meal, something “earthy”. For me this is anything with mushrooms but it has to be healthy. I was going to make a hot mushroom salad this year but my Hubs is not keen on that so we’re having mushroom pizza, ha ha. Sometimes in life you have to compromise. We’ll have the salad another day and besides I’d really rather have something I don’t have to cook, on a Friday night after grocery shopping anyway!

I watch the sunset from beginning to end no matter where I am.

In the evening, by candlelight, I have myself a sit, and then reflect upon the dark, the light and set my intentions for the next seasons. I promptly forget then five seconds after I’m done but still…I think they swim around in there and affect positive change somehow.

My dream for this day is to have a yard big enough to have a bonfire in. One day….oh! And while we’re dreaming, I’d also love a fireplace or woodstove for a Yule log too. Next year I’m going to make a buche de noel because … cake!! AND because the buche de noel takes the place of the Yule log which was kept burning all night on Solstice’s past. It has a really cool history.

There all sorts of Pagan traditions mixed in amongst the Christmas stuff … a little fact I take great pleasure in, especially when I hear all the nonsense about the so called war on Christmas.

Little by little Yule is coming back to life in my family. More and more people I know are celebrating it as such too. We have to do the things that have meaning to our lives. Celebrating the Holidays as they are now was slowly killing off my soul. Screw that!

How do you celebrate? Are you a cultural renegade too? What traditions do you have that are not of the norm?

With five days until Yule, six until my family dinner and eight until Present Day I’ve been thinking about all that I have left to do.

Bake and package treats. Finalize and prepare for FIVE meals. Complete shopping for one husband, daughter, son, daughter in law, son in law, granddaughter. Wrap presents for one husband, daughter, son, daughter in law, son in law and granddaughter.

That’s not so bad, is it? Totally doable. In the in between time I plan to knit and read and watch movies. Oh and bonk people over the head with empty wrapping paper tubes!

I’m not usually this calm. So colour me surprised! I think I’ve finally realized that anxiety is not a very healthy motivation tool. The work still gets done. And I really don’t have to be a frantic mess to do it.

Celebrating the season as Yule helps too. It feels honest and authentic to me. Who knew a name change would have such a positive effect?

How are you handling the season? Are you calm and at peace, or freaking out?

As a child I don’t remember having an Advent calendar. We weren’t religious and advent is a religious thing, I do believe, so that’d be why. Plus, I grew up mostly financially poor. There would have been no moola for such things.

I got them periodically for my own kids, as a cultural/countdown thing and ya know how THAT goes! Eaten all within a day or forgotten about and left to go stale. Gross by any account because the chocolates were those cheap waxy ones, yuck!

Now you can get much better quality not to mention there are countdown calendars with more then jst chocolate! A person could get beer, or make up, ties or lego. The possibilities are probably limitless.

I like to stick with chocolate:

Roger’s Chocolates is a Canadian company and their customer service is MOST excellent. There was an issue with my locked gate and the delivery service but it wasn’t an issue for long, thanks to Betty Ann. She called me personally to solve the problem- before I was even aware that there may be a problem – and was sincere and lovely in all our encounters. Not only was Betty Ann a gem, I got the feeling the entire chain of command cared about me too. The whole experience was such a treat, especially in today’s world.

Their products are good too but honestly, even if they were crap I’d still buy them. Just to do my part to keep places and people as delightful as Betty Ann and her team, in business. Ha Ha. ( Try their Victoria Creams! )

I love Ikea, I really do. Half my house is furnished by them. This meme is just too funny.

Have you ever put together any Ikea stuff? I usually “let” the husband do that BUT last year I bought myself a trestle table with a glass top for my art room and I totes put that thing together all by myself. I aced it too. It wasn’t even all that hard. I felt so proud.

Speaking of trees … if you celebrate the season with a tree, is it up yet?

I have a fake, white one. Its wee and convenient but kind of soulless – not to mention the opposite of environmentally friendly- so this year I’m getting a real one.

I knew the Hubs wouldn’t be too keen on this so I broke it to him this way “Honey, I have some bad news for you.” says I, in a grave and somber tone. “Uh oh ” says he, with a worried look on his face, surely thinking the worst. ” I really want a real tree this year ” His facial expressions declare a strange mix of pain AND relief. ” Ugh! They make so much mess!” I smile and agree sympathetically ” I know! It’s going to OK ”

And that was the end of that! The next thing I know he’s talking about buying a tree stand. Finally, after 26 years of togetherness, I’ve figured out an appropriate way to approach him about things. Go me!

Finally working up the courage to stick it to my childhood dentist? ( My uncle who was also a sadist )

Who knows.

Who cares!

CANDY!

I found these yummy little buggers at my local dollar store:

I ate half the bag on my walk home – Jolly Rancher having the distinct honour of being the only brand who makes a watermelon I can stomach- and am here to say ” These babies are delicious!”

They come in three flavours: watermelon, green apple and cherry. I liked them all equally, each one being distinct and vibrant with flavour. Also, there is juicy goodness that squishes out, inside. Yum!

Now go get yourself some candy. It doesn’t have to be this kind. I don’t work for these people, get any kind you want! Just go out there and enjoy something sweet, just because.

I used to have a cat named December. We found her in December so of course that was her name.

She was a total ass. She regularly terrorized my older cat even though he was 25 lbs of ‘Wegie and she was just this slight, skinny black and white creature.

When you looked into her eyes it was like she had no soul. Seriously. I know that’s a weird thing to say but that’s how we all felt.

I once brought a stray kitten into the house before finding its owner and this kitten read December like a book. It was fine with Corny and Spider. They even trilled at each other a few times. As soon as it saw ‘Cem, it broke out hissing and spitting, fighting in my arms to be let down and out of the house.

She was something else…she could be sweet too. To humans. She was tiny but if she lay on you, she had this way of stretching herself out so that she was this long ribbon of cat. She liked to ride on shoulders too…

She died young of kidney failure and hers was the first “pure” animal death I was a part of. There was no guilt or questions. It was all so clear. She was suffering, I couldn’t see her suffer and so she didn’t. I grieved for her but it was a sweet sadness, a balm for my soul. I knew I’d done right by her, in life, illness and death.

Ha! So now that you’ll all been educated about my cat: Are you excited for December?! I am. This is our last month of 2018. I’m excited about the holidays -Solstice and Jolabokaflod in particular- and a fresh new year.

Let’s say goodbye to November 🙂

Best… Holiday Cheer! I’m not a Christmas person but I’ve read so many news articles these days about how people who decorate for the holidays early are happier than those who don’t. I’m all about being happy so:

Witchy “Wreath”

Slightly Cockeyed Ikea Vinter LampBringing the outside in … and adding some sparkle!

Best Selfie:

Miss Sassafras is very adept with technology. When we had her over for a visit the first thing she did was grab my phone and start taking photos. She insisted on this one and I don’t know whether or not to be impressed or horrified about the whole thing.

Best dinner out:

My man and I have taken to going out for appetizers every few weeks. Most places have a “Happy Hour” during the week so it can even be economical if you time it right. Our best time this month? Appy at Brown’s Social House

We had nachos, yam fries and Korean chicken.

The nachos were fairly standard, everything was fresh. There were a ton of toppings and nothing was soggy. That’s a huge win!

The yam fries were perfectly seasoned and came with the most delicious chipotle dipping sauce that was my favourite part of the whole meal!

The chicken was mildly spicy and tasty. Hubs said it was a bit dry and my complaint was that it didn’t hold its crunch the whole way through but to be fair it was drenched in sauce so that’s probably just the way it is. We liked it, at any rate.

They even made me a unique yet recognizable Dark and Stormy even though there was some confusion as to what that was at first. Everything was hot, fresh and tasty. Service was good and I got to enjoy a weeknight out with this guy:

Best Idea I Had This Month:

I love the feel of clean sheets. Is there anyone who doesn’t? I have a friend who changes her sheets every other day and I used to think she was nuts but; the other day I climbed into bed and was so grateful for the fresh bedding that I decided then and there to change the sheets every four days instead of every seven. I feel so self satisfied like I just invented something amazing or finally gave myself permission to really live, ha ha, Its the little things in life!

All in all, November treated me most kindly. I’m still alive and kicking 🙂

Have any of you seen Bohemian Rhapsody yet? Its so good! I was engaged and captivated the whole way through. I didn’t want it to end and when it did, not a soul in the theatre left until the final credit rolled past. We all wanted to keep listening to the music!

Do you have a favourite Queen song? Mine is … you guessed it! Another One Bites The Dust.

There’s just something about that bass and its so…funky!

Gah! This one gets me. Right in the feels. I’m not sure I agree with it entirely but it made me gasp out loud so something within me does. I do know it takes bravery to be vulnerable and open in love. I have a hard crunchy shell 🙂 but I do the best I can. How about you? What do you think?